Hoping I did the right thing...

ezbmama

New member
Today I was close to home on a surface road (speed limit 35, not residential), stopped at a stoplight--movement in the car on my left caught my eye. It was a 4-5 yo boy bouncing all over the backseat, very clearly unrestrained in any way. He was all over the right and center seats, bopping around. A woman driving, man in front passenger seat. There was a FF carseat in the left rear passenger seat, but I couldn't tell if there was a child in it. Light turned green and I was very close to home, so I drove home (didn't want to be unsafe on phone and driving) and came in right away, looked up the police dispatch (non-emergency) number to report--I had noted make and color of car as well as license plate, as well as location they were headed, the intersection I saw them at, and the time. Dispatch said they'd put out the description and license plate to officers in the area. The sympathetic part of me feels a teeny bit bad, but mostly I feel like any adult/parent who allows their child to be in the car without an appropriate restraint deserves a monster citation and fine--hopefully they'll get caught, and maybe it will be a wake-up call. I'm adding my local police non-emergency number to my cell phone memory so that in the future I have it handy for similar situations .
 
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simplychels

New member
You certainly did the right thing! Good for you!

I've made calls like that. The police caution me that they might not be able to catch these people in the act but will make a house call to address the issue (though not likely give a fine, that would depend on circumstance and prior warnings etc). They always thank me for the call.
 

ezbmama

New member
The sympathetic part of me feels a teeny bit bad

Just to clarify--only sympathetic in the sense that it would be a bummer to get a ticket, not that I can "understand" some circumstance where it would be okay to leave a child unrestrained. Uh, no.
 

Mommy0608

New member
You did the right thing! Hopefully they'll get caught and learn how to properly restrain their child in the car before they have to learn the hard way.
 

Cryssy Jane

New member
You totally did the right thing. I did the same thing not even a couple days ago. Very similar situation. We were headed in the same direction and watched the car get pulled over, little boy still bouncing in the backseat. No idea what happened after that though... we kept driving.
 

cookie123

New member
I wanted to do that the other day. I saw a kid going between the back and front seats in a car in front of me. I was on my way to work and have no idea who to call anyway.
 

Joyofbirth

New member
Is this a situation that warrants a 911 call? We don't have a non-emergency number, so I always wonder if this is something to cal 911 for.
 

mommy-medic

New member
People call 911 to ask for directions. And phone numbers to pizza joints. And to ask the time. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, this would warrant a 911 call where I live. An unrestrained child's life is in immediate danger. Period. You absolutely did the right thing.
 

simplychels

New member
People call 911 to ask for directions. And phone numbers to pizza joints. And to ask the time. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, this would warrant a 911 call where I live. An unrestrained child's life is in immediate danger. Period. You absolutely did the right thing.
More people need to hear that it is a legit 911 call. So many are afraid to call and have it be deemed a "non emergency" and a waste of time for all involved.
 

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